American Red Cross and W.W. Grainger, Inc. Call for Businesses and Communities to Strengthen Disaster Preparedness

Nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina, business conference assesses ways to increase resiliency

NEW ORLEANS, May 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Red Cross and W.W. Grainger, Inc. today highlighted strong improvements in disaster preparedness nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina, but called on businesses and communities to do even more to be ready for disasters.

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Speaking at a business continuity conference in New Orleans, the leaders of the American Red Cross and Grainger (NYSE: GWW) recognized the progress in preparedness, but warned that more needs to be done.

"I believe that there's no question that this community, the American Red Cross and our nation are better prepared today than before Hurricane Katrina," said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross. "But if we leave this conference patting ourselves on the back for our progress, we will have failed. The fact is there is still much more we all need to do to build much more resilient communities. Our communities and our nation need to be better prepared for disasters of all kinds and sizes, such as tornadoes or floods that devastate neighborhoods, an attempted bombing in Times Square, an oil spill that could force people from their homes for long periods of time, another Katrina, or something even bigger."

"Emergency preparedness draws everyone into the loop from personal planning to business continuity planning," said Jim Ryan, Grainger's Chairman, CEO and President. "Having a paper plan is not enough. We must commit to practice our plans, communicate and work as a team to meet the challenges and threats to our communities."

Ryan and McGovern highlighted the "Ready When the Time Comes" program, a workplace volunteer program in which the Red Cross trains employees of local businesses who then can be mobilized as a community-based volunteer force when disasters strike.

"Hurricane Katrina served as the catalyst for adoption of this program across the country," Ryan said. "During Katrina, many businesses asked what their people could do to volunteer.  There was a great passion to help, but employees weren't trained.  The Red Cross recognized the need for even more trained volunteers to accomplish its vital mission."

The "Ready When the Time Comes" program has recruited more than 10,000 trained volunteers and nearly 450 businesses and organizations in 40 communities across the country. The Southeast Louisiana Chapter is launching the program this week.

The New Orleans conference, sponsored by Grainger, the leading broad line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products, and FedEx Corp, a worldwide provider of transportation, e-commerce and business services, was designed to help businesses plan and prepare for disasters and featured several civic and industry leaders, including the keynote address from McGovern and Ryan.  

"The ongoing oil spill offshore of Louisiana is a good example of the kind of disaster that our businesses need to include in their continuity planning; our community needs to be shaping a culture of preparedness – the ability to be ready for anything, at any time," stated Kay W. Wilkins, CEO of the Southeast Louisiana Chapter, headquartered in New Orleans.  "Our area focuses a lot on hurricane planning, however, the need to be prepared for fires, chemical leaks and other types of disasters is just as important."

In terms of its scope and size, Hurricane Katrina was the biggest disaster that the American Red Cross had responded to. The Red Cross assisted approximately 4.5 million survivors of the storm with shelter, food and other basic needs with the help of 220,000 volunteers.

"The response of the Red Cross to Hurricane Katrina was nothing short of heroic," McGovern said. "But the Red Cross also learned from Hurricane Katrina, and we have improved and strengthened our preparedness in many areas including building volunteer capacity.  Grainger initiated a call to action by stepping up with a $1 million grant to fund 'Ready When the Time Comes' and we are so pleased that many other companies have sponsored the program throughout the country."  

McGovern noted that the Red Cross has established a nationwide warehouse system and pre-positioned a volume of disaster relief supplies two times greater than what was required during Katrina and increased the number of trained volunteers to nearly 100,000, nearly four times the level from 2005. The reach of local chapters has extended to include working relationships with a diverse array of national and local organizations that can lend expertise and human resources during disasters. While on a national scale, the ability to help disaster victims through a new National Shelter System has made services more easily accessible to the public, and the Safe and Well website has been improved to help reconnect families during and after disasters.  

"While the Red Cross has improved and increased our capacity to respond to a disaster as big as Katrina, we can certainly imagine disasters that are even bigger," McGovern said. "And we all need to realize that some disasters will be so big that the government – federal, state and local – or groups such as the Red Cross will never be big enough to do it all. Everyone must play a role."

"Our communities depend on small businesses to help in recovery following a disaster," noted Ryan. "We must ensure that they have the tools and resources and the support of the larger business community to build strong business continuity plans and develop a network of mutual assistance."

"Think of it as a continuum of preparedness, starting with individuals and families, and including businesses and schools, civic organizations and government, which will lead to better-prepared communities and a better-prepared nation," McGovern added. "The investments we make in preparedness today can save lives and livelihoods."

About the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.

About Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc. with 2009 sales of $6.2 billion is North America's leading broad line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products with an expanding presence in Asia and Latin America.

SOURCE American Red Cross